Windmill



July l1, 1933. KQH, LEASH 1,917,655

' wINDMILL Filed F'eb. 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INI/ENTOR.

I wf/Q5@ ietented duty 11, 1933 srsres einem oFFlcE d' KEMNEB.' H. LEASE, F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGN'OR TO I-'.. E. LEASE, OF

OAKLAND, CALIORNA VEND-MILL Apnlieaten filed. .February 3, 1332. Serial No. 590,528.

This inventien is :a WindlniPL und has sgecizil reference to un eutomaticniy actu- 1' ding shutter rune windmill in A "en en ene. side of' the Windmill und n'in' Ytree in the wind on the other side :en Y The mein object ot the invention is to provide :i windmiii et high ediciency undwhich xviii ogerate with :dew moving nir currents.

nother object ot the invention is to provide a windmiii ofthe ehurzieter described rfhiehwiii eutonintieziily Vfree :111 ofthe venes neder abnormal Wind pressures.

EL Vfurther (drier-,t of the .invention is to provide i'necheni-czd ineens 'fo releasing' the venes to prevent operutien oi windmill. A

@ther obic advantages of the infentien will become u ingr desfuri tion i" "oud on the drawings tormiee :i per ei? t specification und in which siinihlr l"rrence characters are used to nnte smiier throughout the i views and in which:

is an elevation of the Vinvention with im removed.

,is e, section tad'ien on iinc 2-2 of 'fred sectional eievution Fifi'. L1

nview t the invention.

Jig'. 5 tug'nwntnry sectional View showing 'the tiene reterdine; ineens, and is t 110' teken on line center connection 'for the erms.

The invention consists of a wlndmiii having :fr plurality of radmi arms' or frames are nutoumtieniiy presentedoL Fig. '6 is e freginentery View showing' the Y,

each of Whirh consists` of a triangular trame ceincidently form spacers, pivot members and housings Yor the hitch mechanism.

Tubular members 16 are similarly secured to the members 10 and 11 and form spacers and leteh housings, as also a support for the returding venes, and has intermediately secured thereto es et 17 one end of the horil/ionmi arm 12, the other end being mounted in u bleek 18 which-is pivotaliy secured to the head 19 by ineens of a shou1deredscrew- 20, which permits pivotal movement of thearins in .e vertical piane. L

Guy wires or cross bracing 21 connects opposite ends et adjacent arms, the bracing being secured together ut the Vpoint of crossing' as shon'n :it 22.y The ends of the bracing are so Lpositiened as to permit the vanes to p through.

the pivot member 15, a, circula-r track 27 being previdedferthe Wheels. i f

it will be noted theta rigid structure is' thus produced which isk supported by the wheels 23 which are located substantially at, y

the vertical center ofgrav-ity of the arms, and that *he Wind pressure oneny arm alnd its, venes are eveniy distributed through the cross bracing 21 to all arms, thence through the horizontal arms 12 to the head 19, Which is fixediy secured to the top of the central or drive shaft 2S. v

Vunes 29 are mounted on the tubular mem-` bers 13 by means of hinges 30, members 13 serving as a pintle, the vaines being` adapted to swing clear around, and through the opening between members 10, 11, 13 and 15.1 v .Varies 31 are similarly mounted to venesi 29 and are adapted to pass between members 15 andlG and also between members 15 1ndl ,The hitch mechanism consists of a p1uruiity ot' stops 32 consisting of pins secured in Weights 38 which are siidable in the tubu- 1er members 15 and 1 6, slots 34: in the pipes permitting limited vertical movement of the latches, the Weights being secured in 'spaced relation by adjustable members 85. Slots 3G in the vanes clear the latches when the latches are raised.

The automatic releasing mechanism for the latches consists of a vane 3T secured to the upper end or" a bell crank lever 38 which is intermediately pivoted at 3) to a b 'acket 40 which is secured to the member l0, the other end of lever 38 havingl an adjustable connecting link -l-l pivotally secured thereto as at 42, the other end ol the link being pivotally attached to the string of weights as at 43.

The manual releasing' mechanism for the latches consists of a lever 44 which is intermediately pivoted at 45 and cooperates With a collar 46 which is rotatable on the shaft 28 and has an annular groove. 4T adapted to cooperate with pins 48 which are secured in a block 49 which is slidable Within the shaft 28, slots 5U permitting longitudinal movement of the pins.

A link :3l-is slidably mounted in the. block 49 and has -a stop element 52 secured at the lower end. A connectinglink is attached at one end to the link 5l and has attached to the other end a plurality of flexible elements 54, one for each vane arm, which are individually guided by sheaves 55, the` sheaves being mounted in upward e\tensions 5G et the `head 19, the flexible elements being attached to the levers 38 as indicated at 57 and in such position as to successively release the vanes 29 and 31.

Retarding means provided for the inner vane or vanes in each frame for the purpose of preventing the inner vane trom opening in advance of the outer vane and thereby lockingthe outer `rane in closed position, which would readily occur lin the event of slight sticking of the outer vane on its hinged support Should the inner vane, when the windmill is in the position in which the vane is in the tailfn'ind, openprevious to the opening` of the'outer vane, it would obviously swing `i about and prevent-'the outer vane from opening. For this reason, the retarding vane 58 is provided and is applicable to any number oi" vanes in series, merely by using retarding vanes having dillerent projecting areas Vfor the different vanes whereby one of the,

retarding vanes will retain the cooperating hinged vane in closed position for a longer period tha the nent adjacent vane.

T he retarding,r vanes are preferably made of arcuate form and cooperate with the tree end of the hinged vane in opposition to the latch. and the length of the arcuate portion indicated at 58 in Fig. 5, Will determine the wind pressure required on the hinged or main vane to overcome the resistance of the retarding vane .58. These retarding vanos are hingedly mounted in a vertical plane as indicated at 59 and are adapted to swine' into Atact with the free side of the main vanes.

As is clearly indicated in Fig. 4, as the Windmill rotates in a clockwise direction, the retarding vanes 58 are swung about out of cooperative relation to the free end of the vanos 3l and do not cooperate with these vanos unt-il the vanes have reached the position of the arm (S4, and thereafter cooperate until the arm has reached the position G5 and beyond this point until the yvind reaction on the right hand surface of the vane 81 is sullicient to overcome the reaction on the front face of the retarding vane 58.

i From this it Will be noted that the retarding vanes are only operative at the point where the main vane is normally intended to open.

It will also he noted that the latch releasing vanes operate only in one direction, and that wind pressure has no ellect on their operationv in the positionsv 64, and 66, and that due to their arcuate form, the releasing means can only be operative when they get in the vicinity et the position 63 with the wind blowing in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4.

For this reason, the releasing vanes are only opera-tive in the region of head Wind and in the position Where the vane normally closes against the latch. For this reason the latch releasing means is instantly responsive and has no tendency to make the Windmill inoperative duc to a sudden gust of Wind, Which Would readily occur if all the latches were operated simultaneously, and in addition to this, it is doubtful Whether a single releasing means could operate the device in a heavy Wind, due to the fact that if all were operated simultaneously, the pressure on the vanes in the position 64 would be too great on the latches to permit the Wind actuated vanos to overcome the -friction between the latches and the Vancs. lith my syst-em, the vanes are not called upon to release the latches al ter the vane has actually come in contact therewith, but actually moves the latch to an inoperative position previous to cooperation with the vane.

The central or drive shaft is rotatably supported in bearings GO Which are mounted on a supporting trame G1, the shaft having suitable transmission gearing 62 for transmitting the power of the Windmill to suitable pumps or other appliances.

rlhis Windmill is particularly suited for operating pumps for pumping sea Water to evaporating ponds, pumping irrigation water and similar purposes.

The operation ofthe invention is as follows:

lith lever 44 released, vanes 37 are all moved to a vertical position as shown in Fig. l. allowing the latches 82 to engage the doors.

lilith the Wind blowing in the direction indicated by the arrow as shown in Fig. 4, the Free ends oi the vanes 29 and 31 lodge against the latches32A in the position of the arm indicated as 63, the windpressure acting on the vanes in the position 6ft, and as the arm reaches the position 65, wind pressure on retarding' vane 58 prevent-s vane 3l from swing,"-

ing' open while vane 29 swings to a positiony in line with the wind. As the arm swings farther about, pressure on vane 58 -is overcome by the pressure against the back of vane 3l which is thus released `and swings open, both vanes remaining in line with the wind through position to position'.

weights 33, the vanes are lmoved back byV the wind when approaching position G3, moving' the latches upwardly where they are clearedl by the slots 36 which permits the vanes 29 andl to freely rotate about the pintles, thus obviating damage by unsually heavy wind.

The device is stopped by pressing down on lever ilil which through the-flexible elements 54 raises'tlie latches, these elements being so secured on levers 38 as to first release vane 29 tollowedby vane 3l, so that vanes 29 may be released by placing lever la inintermediate position, and still permit operation of vanes 31. y

Having' described an operative device it will be understood the variations inl construction aiid arrangement oi parts which are consistent with the appended claiinsiin ay be resorted to without detracting 'from the spirit or scope of the invention orsacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

l claim: l. A windmill, in combination, ai vertical -shatt rotatablyinounted, a plurality of ra-k dially disposed trames pivotally secured to said shaft for vertical pivotal inovem-ent, inner and outer vanes swingably mounted on a vert-ical axis in each of said trames, auxiliary vanes, auxiliary vane actuated stop means for each inner and outer vane adapted to cooperate with one side of said vanes and retarding vanes cooperating with each inner vane to cause the outer vane to open previous to the inner vane.

with one side of sai-d vanes', wind actuated' and hand operated means for moving said stops out of cooperative relation to said vaiies, and wind actuated 'means for preventing simultaneous opening', of the plurality o varies.

3; A windmillcomprisinga vertical shaft rotatably mounted, a plurality of radially disposed trames secured to said shaft-V tor;

Y`vertical pivotal movement, each oi saidA :trames being' intermediately supportedon rollers, a circulart-rack `toi' said rollers, a pluralityot vaiies swingably mounted on verticalaxes in each of said iframes, gravity actuated stop means 'toi' eachv vane adapted to cooperate witlione side o't'said varies, wind actuated and h and operated means iior releasinglsaid latches, andy means for causing said varies `toi opensuccessively. l

4. A windmill comprising' a vertical shalt rotatably mounted, -a plurality otradially disposed frames secured to said sliaitt and adapted for vertical pivotal movement, each ol said 'trames being' interniediately supported on rollers, a circular track for .said rollers, a plurality ot vanes swingably mounted on vertical axes in each oi' said frames, stop rmeans toi' each vane `adapted Lto cooperate with one side oi said vanes, wind Yactuated kand khand operated means for moving` said stops out ot' cooperative relation to said vanes. l

5. A windmill comprising a vertical shalt rotatably mounted, a plurality ot' radially disposed trames secured to said sliait and mounted for vertical pivotal movement, two

vanes swiiigably mounted in each of said* frames, `gravity actuated stop means for each fane adapt-edto cooperate with said vanes, hand operated 4 and wind actuated releasing'- nieans tor said stop means and wind actuated n retardiup; means for cert-einst' .said Avanes adapted tor cause the vanos in each frame to. open successively when acted on by the wind.

6. A, windmill comprising;` a vertical shaft rotatably mounted, a headv on vsaid shaft, a plu ality of triangl'llar trames verticallyT disposed and secured to said lieadftor vertical pivotal movement by an elenientconn'ected the inner and intermediate tubular elements,

auxiliary vanes hingedly mounted at the top of the inner and intermediate tubular elements and connect-ing means between said vaiies and said latches adapted to raise said latches when said auxiliary vanes arc actedk on by abnormal `wind pressures, and an auxiliary retarding` vane hingedly mounted on the inner tubular element and cooperating with tlie free end of the inner vane in op position `to tlie latch.

iso

7. In combination with a windmill having a central vertical shaft Vand a head 0n the shaft, a plurality of radial triangular frames and rotative supporting means for said frames, vanes hingedly mounted in said frames. and stop means for said vanes, means for connectingy said frames to said shaft comprising an arm having' one end iixedly secured at the vertex of said frame, the other end beiner pivot-ally secured to the bead of said shaft on a horizontal axis whereby vertical movement of said frame is permitted.

8. A Windmill comiirising a vertical shaft, a head on said shaft having' a plurality of plane faces parallel to the axis of the shaft, a frame pivotally secured at one end t0 each of said plane faces to permit pivotal movement ofthe frame in a vertical plane, a plurality of vanes swiiigrably mounted in each frame. gravity actuated stop means for each vane and Wind actuated releasingy means for each stop means, a road wheel located substantially at the vertical center of gravity of each arm. the pivotal connection of said frame permittilmr the weight of said frame to be carried by the road wheel.

9. A windmill comprising a vertical shaft, a head on said shaft having' a plurality of plane faces parallel to the axis of said shaft, a frame pivotally secured at one end to each of said plane faces to permit pivotal movement of tbe frame in a vertical plane, a road wheel for supporting each frame, a plurality of vertically disposed tubular members in cach frame, a vane bingedly mounted on each tubular member except one, a gravity actuated stop for each vane, Wind actuated releasin g means for each stop, band actuated releasing means cooperating with said Wind actuated means, an arcuate retardinf.,Y vane hinged on said one tubular member in cooperative relation to the free end of the adjacent vane when in closed position, Wind pressure on the arcuate retarding vane maintaining the adjacent vane closed beyond the point at which the adjacent vane is normally opened by Wind pressure.

10. A windmill comprising a vertical shaft rotatably mounted, a head on said shaft, a plurality of triangular frames radially disposed, eacb of said fra-mes having a single pivotal connection on said head to permit vertical pivotal movement of the frame, a sup- `porting Wheel, for each frame. a circular track, three vertical tubular members in each frame, a vane hingedly mounted on each of the two outer members, a gravity actuated vane stop slidable in each of the two inner tubular members, a release vane pivotally mounted adjacent each inner tubular member on the top of the fra'me'and havinga connection to the stop for raising the stop, hand operated release means, connections between said release vaines and to said hand operated release means, a retarding' vane hingedly mounted on the innermost tubular member for cooperation With the free end of the adjacent vane in opposed relation to the stop for retardine; the normal openingr period of the adjacent vane. i

l1. A windmill in combination, a vertical shaft. a plurality of radial frames secured at one end to said shaft for vertical pivotal movement, each of said frames beingr vehicularly supported, two vertically hinged vanes in Aeach fran'le, individual Wind responsive release means for each vane and hand operated means for actuatingr at will said Wind responsive release means.

Vl2. A Windmill in combination, a vertical shaft, a plurality of radial frames secured at one end to said shaft for vertical pivotal K movement, each of said frames being' vehicularly supported, two vertically hinged vaines in each frame, individual Wind responsive release means for each vane, hand operated means for actuating' at will said wind responsive release means, and wind responsive auxiliary vanes cooperating with the innermost vane in each frame to retard tbe opening' thereof.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

KENNETH I-I. LEASH. 

